


Spiked

by sof_gigante



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Din is a bit of a baby, Fluff, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Minor Injuries, Planet Tatooine (Star Wars), Touch-Starved Din Djarin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:40:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29451693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sof_gigante/pseuds/sof_gigante
Summary: “I promise I’ll go easy on you, Din.”Din gets too close to some aggressive Tatooine flora. Luckily, Cobb knows exactly what to do.
Relationships: Din Djarin/Cobb Vanth
Comments: 16
Kudos: 158
Collections: DinCobb Valentine's Bingo 2021





	Spiked

**Author's Note:**

> For the "Helping the Other With an Injury", "Din returning to Mos Pelgo post-S2" and "Touch-Starved" squares in the DinCobb Valentine's Bingo. <3 <3

“It got you good, didn’t it?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Din let go of his stinging hand, dropping it casually between his knees. So much for Cobb not noticing his injury during their water break.

“I told you, those spike-plants are no joke.” Cobb chuckled. “Once had a spine go clear through the sole of my boot. Hurt like hell for days.”

Din grunted, squeezing his fingers into a fist. The spot where the spine had pierced his leather glove stabbed anew.

“It’s probably still in there. Lemme take a look at it.” Cobb extended his hand, motioning with his fingers.

“I’ll be fine,” Din protested.

“I wasn’t asking, Din,” Cobb said. His eyebrows raised even as he tilted his head forward, fixing Din with a look he could feel even through his beskar helmet. “I need to get it out before it breaks off, gets even harder to dig out.”

 _Dig out?_ Din’s stomach churned.

“Fine.” He started to yank his glove off.

“Uh uh!” Cobb snapped, grabbing Din’s wrist. “You’ve gotta be gentle, in case it’s in the glove, too.”

Cobb took the edge of Din’s glove and started working it down slowly. A pale band of sand-speckled flesh appeared, and Din sucked in his breath. He and Cobb had been friendly since Din had come back to Mos Pelgo for a visit, but this was uncharted territory for them.

Thankfully, Cobb seemed more focused on his task than on the effect it was having on Din. He rolled the leather up Din’s palm and tugged gently. Din hissed.

“Ah ha, I see the little bugger,” Cobb murmured. He whistled low, and ran his finger over the reddened flesh underneath Din’s thumb. “Yeah, it got you good.”

Din bit his lower lip as the gentleness of Cobb’s caress twined with the discomfort of the spiked area.

Cobb eased the glove the rest of the way off, revealing the full patch of inflamed skin. Cobb cupped Din’s hand and brought it up to his face, closing one eye to better get a look. Din felt Cobb’s warm breath slip over his skin, and barely caught the embarrassing sound that wanted to escape his throat.

“I don’t see anything,” Din said, trying to cover up then noise.

“They’re tough to see. Thin as hairs and strong as transparasteel. But, if you know what you’re looking for, it’s not so bad.”

“You’ve taken out a few of these, haven’t you?”

“Probably taken at least one out from every person in town.” He placed Din’s hand carefully on his armored thigh. “Hold it there, now. Don’t move it.”

As Din did as he was instructed, Cobb reached into his belt pouch and pulled out a small metal box. He opened it up and pulled out a pair of tweezers. Cold sweat pricked across Din’s forehead.

“I’m sure I can wait until we get back to town. I have a real medkit in my bags.”

Cobb tilted his head. “Din, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were afraid to let me get the spine out.”

An icy-hot wave of embarrassment coursed through Din. For a second, he considered lying. Then, he sighed. “I have a…thing about small things getting under my skin.”

“Really?” Cobb’s tone was half gentle, half teasing. “You get stuck once or something?”

“Yes.” Din swallowed hard. “When I was a child I got swarmed by Ventinian bees. Never shook the memory.”

Din expected Cobb to laugh, make some joke about how the tough Mandalorian in all this armor was still unnerved by insects and plant spikes.

Instead, Cobb just tightened his lips, nodding in sympathy. “I get it. I got chased by a mastiff as a bitty kid, and I still can’t stand the sight or sound of ‘em.” He looked up at Din, sincerity bright in his hazel eyes. “I promise I’ll go easy on you, Din.”

Din flushed, both comforted and flustered by Cobb’s assurance. “All right. I trust you.”

“Glad to hear it.” Cobb used the tweezers to point to Din’s other arm. “Can you fire up that wrist flamethrower for me?”

Din chuckled, flicking on the weapon’s pilot light. “Is this a bit overkill?”

“You wanna get an infection?” Cobb asked, running the tips of the tweezers in the blue flame a few times. “OK, that’s good.”

Din turned off the flame, then took a deep breath. Guess there was no putting it off anymore. “OK. Let’s get this over with.”

Cobb tugged Din’s hand until it was in a patch of sunlight, and then lifted it up to his eye again. “Just tell me if I’m hurting you, and I’ll stop. It doesn’t look that bad. The barbs can get stuck pretty deep, so hopefully I won’t have to cut the top layers of skin—”

“Cobb?”

“Yeah?”

“Please stop talking.” Din’s mouth flooded with saliva, his head spinning slightly.

“Right! Sorry.” Cobb squeezed Din’s hand in apology. “How about I tell you something else to keep your mind off of it?”

“That’d be…nice.”

“All right. Have I told you about the time Dewy escaped from her pen and rampaged through town?”

“Dewy?”

“The town dewback. The kids named her. They’re supposed to take shifts looking after her, teach them responsibility and all that, but on this particular day…”

Din focused on the sound of Cobb’s voice, mesmerized by the way he could weave this simple occurrence into a small-town saga. Every once in a while Din felt a tug on his skin, but nothing too invasive, and he’d focus instead on Cobb’s yarn.

“…so we find Dewy stuck in the doorway to the school, and—a ha! Got it!” Cobb triumphantly held up the tweezers. Clasped in their grip was an inch-long spike. Din could see the tiny serrations, some tinged red, and he looked down to examine his hand. There was barely a mark where Cobb had pulled it out.

“You wanna keep it as a trophy? Hang it up in your ship?” Cobb teased.

“I think I’ll be fine without it.” Din laughed weakly.

He watched as Cobb swabbed down the tweezers, and pulled out a small, square bacta patch out of his kit. He carefully centered it over Din’s wound, smoothing it in place. This time, the touch was purely pleasurable, no itching discomfort to mar the sensation.

Din was about to pull his hand back, thank Cobb for taking on the task, when Cobb brought Din’s hand up to his mouth. Before Din realized what was happening, Cobb placed a quick, soft kiss to the bandaged spot.

“Figured you deserved a prize for being so brave,” Cobb said. He looked up at Din, grinning wide enough to crinkle the corners of his eyes.

Din’s breath hitched, his heart squeezed. As much as he hated getting stuck, it had absolutely been worth it for the kiss.

Cobb seemed to read his mind. “Now don’t get any funny ideas, Din.”

Din’s stomach churned nervously. Was he misreading something?

“I’ve had to pull these spikes out of all sorts of places, some much more delicate than others. Believe me, there’s much less painful ways to get me to kiss you.”

Din’s mouth went dry. “Like what?”

“Like how’s about we get back to my place, and I’ll show you?”

Worth it.


End file.
